diff --git a/monai/data/image_reader.py b/monai/data/image_reader.py
index 9ccf79d163..0f8de6b57d 100644
--- a/monai/data/image_reader.py
+++ b/monai/data/image_reader.py
@@ -766,7 +766,8 @@ def _get_seg_data(self, img):
             all_segs = np.zeros([*spatial_shape, n_classes])
 
         for i, (frames, description) in enumerate(self._get_frame_data(img)):
-            class_name = description.SegmentDescription
+            segment_label = getattr(description, "SegmentLabel", f"label_{i}")
+            class_name = getattr(description, "SegmentDescription", segment_label)
             if class_name not in metadata["labels"].keys():
                 metadata["labels"][class_name] = i
             class_num = metadata["labels"][class_name]